Spark Within
by WindstormPrime
Summary: It started off innocently.. but these things always tend to spiral downward. Will our heroes be able to stop the Decepticon's newest plot? Or will there be a new page in this war. (Mostly G1 with a few borrowed elements here and there. Cannon pairings, no unofficial pairings planned. Rated M for safety. Humor and darker Elements mixed within.


**Spark Within**

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own transformers or the characters from the show, I only own my OCs and the plot.

::Denotes comm chatter::

**\ \/ /**

It started off innocently enough, Shockwave surmised. Of course, whatever starts in the Decepticon base rarely _STAYS_ innocent for long. This was an irrefutable fact that had been documented and proven countless times. Some soldier had picked up a piece of human technology, a popular hand-held game of some sort, and before he even knew it, copies of of it had been dispersed throughout the base. At least he could understand why this particular sparkling's toy had become so popular in the ranks of hardened soldiers.

Despite being 'sanitized' for young, developing humans. It was plainly obvious to all of the Decepticons that the game was a simulation of a bloodsport. Forcing quasi sentient beasts to fight each other for entertainment and profit in arena combat was, for lack of a better term, appealing to most of the bots under Megatron's command. It was even packaged in such a way that even those bots with weak processors could easily understand the game and its mechanics, while encouraging tactical thought and careful decision making. Shockwave paused as he considered these facts. For all the annoyance Humans provided, occasionally they would come out with some impressive surprises for dim witted organics.

Of course, Shockwave hadn't expected this particular infatuation to last this long. The last time such a thing happened, Megatron put an end to it within a week. Now it has been infesting the ship for well over a month, and to his surprise, Megatron himself had gotten in on it. Perhaps the game's premise resonated with the former gladiator? Regardless, most of the soldiers tired of the game before long, so only a few continued to amuse themselves with it. Which meant there were more than a few copies laying around for him to analyze.

Aside from some interesting statistical data that the devices recorded, Shockwave found little else worth noting about the games. Well, aside from the rather novel idea of storing an organism of vast size and power in a small sphere, for ease of travel and conservation of space and energy. Shockwave paused again in thought as he considered the small device on his worktable. Such a system would be handy for storing organics for interrogation or as test subjects. He could even see it being used to cut down on the resources needed to maintain the organic's function in between 'usage.' It was simply a matter of determining he best way to achieve the effect.

Finding himself stirred by scientific curiosity, Shockwave located one of his more sophisticated data pads to begin mapping out the possible options. The first solution that came to the forefront of his processor was a simple scan and destroy, then replicate the target when needed again. One that was quickly ruled out simply due to the massive amount of data storage required to be useful. Subspace pockets were more feasible, but were no better than the current containment methods, and were more energy consumptive than a simple cage. He needed a third option.

Checking his data files, he noted the Autobots once did attempt to transfer the consciousness of a human into a Cybertronian body, with extremely poor results. The information was scant, but it did indicate some degradation of the mind while it was digitized. Which was fine, if the only purpose was a brief interrogation and not extended storage. Shockwave snorted in annoyance, the problem would be so much easier to solve if humans had sparks, like all reasonable life forms. How sentient life can exist without a spark seemed to defy logic, yet here it was. Wrapped in a fragile and disgusting organic shell.

If he could somehow find the spark that made the humans tick, he'd simply core it out and stuff it in a proper spark chamber for later use, so he could forget all this organic nonsense. Instead, his every attempt to locate one has yielded nothing more than dead test subjects and wasted time. Yet, he had reports of Autobots bonding with the humans, accepting them as if they possessed sparks! Surely there must be _something_ there? Perhaps some faintly burning ember, a bare flicker of a spark, barely sustained by the inefficient organic energy production?

Shockwave would have frowned if he had a face, as one of the of the lights surged and popped in a shower of sparks. Maintenance had lagged behind, due to Megatron's near constant fighting with the Autobots. It was the shower of sparks in his optic that caught his attention. Something he vaguely recalled being documented. Depolarized sparks had a non zero chance of stabilizing as the electron opposites of normal sparks. They were notoriously unstable at high energy levels, but at lower ones... they were curiously stable. Detecting them required specialized equipment. Extracting them, however, only required a few modifications to a spark extractor.

Shockwave took a brief moment to replace the blown light before he dug through his racks of equipment as he commed the only Decepticon he 'trusted' to carry out his experiment quietly. ::Shockwave to Soundwave. I have a mission your cassettes are uniquely suited to carry out.:: He stated simply as he started modifying the old tool.

Soundwave's reply was swift and emotionless. ::Shockwave: Acknowledged. Mission: Purpose and details?::

::Research.. I need them to quietly test a device on some unsuspecting humans and.. should it work.. return to me the filled storage device.:: Shockwave replied, hoping Megatron's third in command wouldn't prove to be an obstacle to his designs.

::Storage device: Contents?:: Soundwave pressed.

Shockwave didn't want to give away too much information right now, but he wasn't going to get him to go along if he didn't tell the bot _something_. ::In theory? I'll call them 'embers.' If I'm right, research on them may lead to a new tool in the ongoing war against the Autobots.:: It wasn't a lie either, he already had several ideas on what he could do with them. Converting them into sparks and then bending the spark to his will would help swell the Decepticon numbers. Simply storing them on spark support and interrogating them when needed could yield useful intel, not to mention they would be a unique bargaining chip to levy against the Autobots.

Soundwave took several moments to process the request before replying. ::Operation: Authorized. Dispatching: Rumble. Frenzy.::

**\ \/ /**

Unknown to Shockwave, a third party had been watching silently from a hidden place in the Decepticon base's superstructure. He used all of his caution to extract himself undetected and get to a safe transmission range to the Ark before relaying the urgent message. ::Jazz, to Blaster. Come in Blaster.::

::Blaster here, You got a report?:: Blaster coolly replied.

::Good news and bad news, my friend. Good news is I found out what happened to Sunny's 3DS and what's been keepin' the cons a little quieter than usual. Bad news, Shocky' is up to something weird. I would have stuck around to see what was up, but I was already pushin' my operation limit as it was.:: Jazz informed Blaster. ::All I know is that involves re-purposin' Spark extractors and that Rumble and Frenzy are gonna be usin' them. Anythin' else is all up in Shockave's processor.::

Blaster frowned as he relayed the information to Optimus and Prowl. ::If I arrange someone to meet you mid way with a fresh cube of Energon, you think you can figure out where they might be going?::

::Send Hound, I'll need his trackin' ability to see where they went. I have an idea of which exit they'll be usin'.:: Jazz responded.

::Rodger that.:: Blaster paused as he forwarded Jazz's request. ::So what did happen to Sunny's 3DS? He's been grumpy... well grumpier.. ever since it was lost.::

::Skywarp nabbed it, and then some bot had the bright idea to copy it and the game he had on it... It actually went over unusually well with the cons... Kinda freaky really.:: Jazz replied as he started to move to the rendezvous point.

::Huh.. I'll have to share that with Prowl later.:: Blaster noted.

::You do that. I'm going silent again. Jazz out.::

**\ \/ /**

Rumble fiddled with the odd looking 'gun' Shockwave had given him and Frenzy. They had each received one and several 'capture' spheres that the gun fed into. Frenzy had taken an opportunity to paint the capture spheres red and white before they departed, while Rumble dug up a couple of baseball hats from his stash of contraband. The pair could barely hold back their snickering as they neared a lonely gas station. "Remember what Shockwave said?" Rumble asked his brother.

"Yeah, no two humans that are exactly alike. Try and pick a variety." Frenzy grinned. "Gotta zap 'em all right?"

"Frag.. I have enough trouble telling them apart as it is." Rumble groaned. "I say we just grab all the ones we see and high tail it back. Now shh! We need to be quiet now. Fuel truck's pulling up."

**\ \/ /**

Karmen Smith hated her job. Seemingly forever stuck behind the lonely counter of a gas station in the middle of nowhere, she was barely making enough money to live by, let alone enough to pay for her medical bills. The only upside was that it was far enough out of the way that she never met anyone who knew her secret. That she used to be a man, and still needed the surgery to finish what she had started years ago.

Huh... I thought I saw a flash." Remarked, Bill. A regular who usually drops by for some gas for his bike and a scratch off ticket every other day.

"Probably just light glinting off the tanker." Karmen replied as she tore the ticket free of the roll before handing it to Bill. "You ever gonna give up on these? I swear if you invested the money you spend on them, you'd have your millions." She grinned.

"Nah, what would be the fun in that? Better to roll the dice and see what change gets you I say." He suddenly frowned from behind his big bushy mustache as he glanced back out the window upon seeing another flash. The burly old biker almost looked comical in his expression. "Hmm maybe someone is taking selfits or whatever that newfangled picture taking thing is called. You ever try and talk your boss into taking down some of these window posters? It makes it impossible to see whats goin' on outside."

Karmen frowned and leaned to the side trying to see around the signs. "Tried, and failed. My boss believes that if something important happens, the cameras will catch it." There was a pair of flashes that time, but she couldn't see the source. "Why would they be using a flash anyways? Its bright outside."

"I dunno. Could be they don't know how to operate their new camera I guess?" Bill offered as he started to pull the cash out of his wallet.

There was another flash before Karmen heard the door open. But she was busy with the register and only caught the themed baseball caps on what she assumed were a couple of kids coming inside. When she looked up, she witnessed a horrific sight. As a flash fileld the room, Bill seemed to freeze in place, all color draining from his skin until only his bright blue eyes remained.. a expression of horror fixed on his face as the color from his eyes faded.. and his body collapsed into dust. "Bill!" she exclaimed looking over the counter, only to see two Red and Blue robots, with some strange looking guns grinning up at her.

"Gotta catch em all!" Frenzy exclaimed as he pulled the trigger and a bright red beam struck Karmen in the chest.

For Karmen, it was as if time stopped, and her body had gone completely numb. Then a painful tearing sensation seemed to fill her being.. as if she was being torn from her body and sucked down a black hole. She couldn't scream, she couldn't cry, all color from her vision began to fade.. until the last thing she saw was the bot's crazed grin on his faceplate.

"We better get movin' Frenzy, Laserbeak says the bots are heading this way." Rumble urged as he knocked the station door off its hinges.

"Yeah, one sec, the capture sphere thing is jammed in the mechanism." Frenzy grumbled as he followed his brother out of the store. "And I thought Ravage was hiding our trail?"

"Forget about the jam, Shockwave can fix it." Rumble paused. "He did, we better use the other entrance. That fragging tracker out smarted Ravage."

"Slag!" Frenzy yelped as the gun shocked him, causing him to drop it. "Jerkaft's tamper proofing just shocked me! I think its fried now!"

"The leave it! We still got this gun and six embers. More than enough for Shocky to play with for now!" Rumbled ordered as he broke out into a run with his brother quickly following after him.

**\ \/ /**

Jazz swerved into the gas station's parking lot and transformed, glancing around quickly. "Slag, we missed them..."

Hound grimaced as he transformed behind him. "Surprised there isn't more damage.." he paused as he knelt near a peculiar pile of ash... and the odd bits of clothing sticking up from under it. "No burn marks on the clothing... just a pile of ash... What happened here?"

Jazz frowned as he picked up the discarded device before looking up at one of the store cameras. "I have an idea... Ol One Optic was talking about some kind of extraction before I had to bail. Wish my tanks were a bit bigger, could held out for longer than I did and found out for sure. But I bet the camera's here could help us fill in the blanks."

"No telling how long ago they split, best get the information and get back to base... Prime wont be happy to hear about the dead humans." Hound intoned.

"Yeah.. just give me a click while I tap the surveillance before we head back, should only take a moment." Jazz replied before he eyed the strange weapon in his hands. "Grab a few samples of the ash. Percy might be able to glean some knowledge from it as well."

**\ \/ /**

"So, this is what being dead is like." Karmen said to herself as she seemingly drifted in an endless dark void. No sensation other than an odd tingle that seemed to fill her formless being. Anger and sadness swept through her as she contemplated her life. It wasn't fair! She still had so much to do! How could this happen to her?! She exclaimed time and time again into the endless void until she suddenly felt a strange force clamping down around her.. there was a sudden push and then a pulling force that seemed to threaten to tear her apart before vanishing, leaving her feeling drained and faint.

Slowly Karmen became aware of a gentle trickling sensation, almost like a warm rain. As it continued she felt the warmth as flow into her. Her being expanded slowly, until it seemed to push up against an outer surface before exploding outward. The sudden shock of vision and sound having returned startled her. Although it was like she was looking through a poor quality camera, being able to see and move it felt like a great relief to her.

"Seems re-polarizing the spark worked, 'Jack." Ratchet noted as he observed the monitor hooked up to the small "emergency spark support" chamber. "Getting almost normal readings now." He paused to look at the small single camera hastily attached to the chamber as it moved around. "And the femme's awake."

Karmen recoiled as she saw the tall robot kneel before her. Although the image was grainy, she could easily make out the expression of concern and worry on his face.. it was so unlike the mad grin the smaller robot had.

"Can you hear me femme?" Ratchet asked cautiously as his optic glanced back to the readings on the monitor. "If you can reply.. can you tell me your name?"

There was a burst of static before a weak voice emerged from the spark chamber's speakers. "Y-yes. Karmen." She replied, noting how hard it was to speak though the machine she seemed to be connected to. "Where.. am I? What.. is going on?" It did seem to get slightly easier the more she spoke, but it wasn't fun in the least.

"You're in my med bay on the Ark. My name is Ratchet, and the bot back there is Wheeljack." Ratchet paused. He hated delivering bad news to bots. "It would seem, you were the victim of a rather sick experiment."

"What... are you?" Karmen pleaded.

"We're Autobots. We've been on Earth, working with your government for some time now. Helping them combat the Decepticons who.. are the one who did this to you." Wheeljack supplied as he neared Karmen's view. "Our best guess is they siphoned out the human equivalent of the Spark out of you.. err... you humans would call it your soul I think... For reasons we're not clear on yet."

"Which brings us to your current situation, Karmen." Ratchet continued. "As you were, you were in danger of destabilizing.. so.. we re-polarized your Spark into a state we can maintain and placed you in a modified Spark Support Chamber. You are without a body of your own at this moment..." Ratchet grimaced. "With your permission, we would like to transfer you to a Protoform at the earliest opportunity. Its... entirely your decision.. however."

Ratchet's last words hung in Karmen's mind as she contemplated it. "Proto-form?" She asked, hoping for clarification while she tried to quell the panic in her mind.

"Its the base component of our bodies, prior to modifications and such." Wheeljack explained. "When a Spark is introduced, the protoform changes to accommodate it somewhat."

Karmen was silent for several moments as she came to grips with her new situation. On the plus side, she wasn't dead. And being stuck in a box didn't really appeal to her anyways. A body was better than nothing at least. "Yes. Please. Better. Than this. I imagine." she finally replied before asking, "What. Happened to the others?" Learning to use the speakers to speak fluidly was rapidly tiring her it seemed.

"The others.. are in the con's hands at the moment.. Jazz is working on getting into the con's base, but he's having difficulty finding an entrance." Ratchet replied.

"Oh." Karmen replied sadly. She wished she could frown, it was rather upsetting to know others were in the clutches as the assholes who did this to her.

"Just rest for now, things will be better when we get you into a proper frame." Ratchet stated with a tired smile.

Karmen nodded the camera head before relaxing briefly, before something came to her attention. "How did you know.. Femme?" She asked suddenly, wondering why they chose that particular phrase early on when she didn't even have a body to determine her gender.

"You have a female's Spark signature." Ratchet explained as he went back to the monitors. "We call males 'mechs' if you're wondering."

That little tidbit of information would have brought a smile to Karmen's face if she had one. Still, she felt deeply satisfied, and it took all her might not to cheer out loud. At least she didn't need to argue about _that_ aspect of her life.

**\ \/ /**

Megatron stomped into Shockwave's lab, scowling at the rack of Spark Support Chambers mounted to the wall. "Shockwave! Report! I want to know what this experiment of yours is about, now!"

Shockwave turned from his workbench to salute Megatron. "Lord Megatron, I have finally concluded, that contrary to our original findings, humans do indeed possess a form of spark, and have successfully extracted several samples."

The brief realization stalled Megatron's thought processes for a brief moment. "Indeed? While interesting to hear you recant your original proclamation, I fail to see how this benefits our cause on this world. Due to this experiment we are now having to collapse and rebuild our access tunnels to avoid compromise. I hope you can prove to me that your findings are worth the expense of resources."

"Lord Megatron, this represents a momentous opportunity for the Decepticon cause. First, we can use these human Embers, reformat them into proper Sparks and use them to bolster our numbers to fight the Autobots. We could easily find willing recruits who would relish the opportunity.. and it would be far easier to reprogram a newly built Cybertronian body to use their skills and knowledge for our use, than to manipulate a frail organic. Secondly, it would conserve our resources to keep the humans in spark form rather than in cages if we need or wish to hold them prisoner." Shockwave quickly replied.

"And what if the Autobots learn of this? Soundwave has informed me one of the devices has fallen into their hands." Megatron asked.. his tone shifting from anger to concern.

"The process is irreversible, and even if they decipher how to do it themselves, the Autobots would be extremely reluctant to even attempt to use the technique to bolster their own numbers, even if a human requested it done to them." Shockwave informed Megatron, shrugging off his concern.

"Don't underestimate the length's Prime is willing to go, Shockwave." Megatron cautioned coldly. "Though you may have a point, few Autobots have the tanks to do what is necessary to win this war. We'll simply have to make more soldiers than they do." He looked to the racks. "I count only five active chambers.. did you not have six?"

"One is currently in a separate chamber. I am in the middle testing its limits." Shockwave replied.

"Hmm, very well Shockwave. You have earned a reprieve. Now I have plans to make, utilizing this new tool in our arsenal." Megatron stated before leaving Shockwave's lab, a plan already forming in his processor.

Shockwave waited for the door to close before pressing the switch under his workbench. A door sliding open to reveal the dull gray figure. "Why did you lie to him?" The figure grinned.

"I did not. Placing you into one of my spare Protoforms is indeed an important test of your spark." Shockwave stated coldly as he picked up a logic probe and started to test one of the figure's exposed circuits. "Megatron will want warriors. I however, need loyal agents in his command. It will take time to break the wills of the other five... you however.."

"Was a wanted man, that life has no use to me... As far as this is concerned.. its an improvement.. and I do _love_ killing people when they least expect it." He chuckled.

"Yes.. your record indicates as much." Shockwave replied. "But you will only do so when I tell you from now on.. attempting otherwise.. will be fatal."

"Thats why you put the bomb in me right?" He grinned again.

"Indeed." Shockwave replied again as he soldered few additional connections and then released the hand they were connected to.

"Hey, I'm gonna need a new name.. heh.. How about _Detonator_?" He asked as he flexed the fingers in his hand.

"Perfectly serviceable" Shockwave dully replied. Having one ready for use will buy him time to break the others, and keep himself firmly in Megatron's favor until the time was right.

**\ \/ /**

Karmen let out a theatrical sigh. She had been stuck as a glorified box with a camera on it for almost a week now. She was bored to tears, if only she could cry tears. Spike and Carly weren't around to keep her company in Ratchet's med bay today. And she had already breezed through all the data Ratchet had given her to read and learn. And of course the grumpy, but oddly loveable, bot himself wasn't there either. Apparently the general wasn't happy at all when he found out what happened, so now they were having a lot of meetings to discuss the issue. She was only brought into one, and it was terrible enough to sit through the whole thing.

Optimus himself had a long talk with Karmen prior to that meeting. From what she could tell he was both deeply disturbed and extremely concerned for her well being. So there was that. She had met several other bots afterward, usually when they dropped into the medbay for repairs. The feeling seemed mutual for most of them, and she found most of the bots like able with only a few noted exceptions.

When Ratchet stormed in, swearing in Cybertronian, Karmen jerked her attention to follow him around the med bay. "The chrome plated bearings of that general!" Ratchet snarled angrily.

"What did he do _this_ time?" Karmen asked, idly wishing she could adjust her position on the table to better see Ratchet's face.

"Now he's gone full circle! He wants us to duplicate the process for his soldiers! He damn well knows the treaty forbids it!" Ratchet scowled. "We don't even know if there are as of yet undiscovered problems with converted sparks... even if there aren't.. its ethically wrong in the first place!"

"Why?" Karmen asked.

"Because it is! Would any _human_ doctor graft weapons onto a patient just because they asked them to?" Ratchet asked.

Karmen thought about it for a moment before replying. "They have enough problems providing SRS to those who who need it without copious amounts of money.. so I'll go with no."

"Exactly!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Its not medically necessary! And its far beyond cosmetic!"

"What if they were dieing or permanently paralyzed?" Karmen asked, thoughtfully.

Ratchet's engine choked as his processor stalled. "If, and only if there were no.. uncorrectable.. side effects... maybe." He slowly admitted. "That would be more acceptable. We do reformats among our own kind for those reasons sometimes.."

"But you still wouldn't do it, because its giving Cybertronian tech to humans, right?" Karmen asked. "How do I fit in on that now anyways?"

"Yes... we would have to rework the treaty if we were going to allow that." Ratchet nodded. "You are kind of.. grandfathered in.. as the general called it. Decepticons caused your current situation, and it would be unethical to do any less than to make you fully Cybertronian." Ratchet looked up at one of the monitors. "Speaking of you. Wheeljack should be along with the Protoform shortly. Omega Supreme just offloaded a blank with the latest cargo haul from Cybertron."

"Already? I thought Wheeljack said it would take longer than that to get one?" Karmen stated with some surprise .

"Apparently they put a rush on it. Its the first adult frame Protoform thats been made since the war, mind you." Ratchet noted. "Most are just used for certain reformats, which are rare enough. They used to be used for cold forged bots, to bolster numbers, but that ended because of the mental problems pre-programmed bots are prone to have."

"I'm surprised you didn't offer to put me in a sparkling framed Protoform first." Karmen stated as she looked to the door, expectantly. She had read up on sparklings in her excess of spare time.

"Didn't seem right to put you through several decades of physical development, when all you need is an adjustment period to the new body." Ratchet replied as the door opened, revealing a large container.. with Wheeljack behind it.. rolling it in on an over sized dolly.

"Somebody ask for a body?" Wheeljack beamed as he expertly navigated around Ratchet's med bay before lifting the container onto one of the shorter berths.

"Careful with that 'Jack..." Ratchet cautioned as he started fetching tools from around the med bay.

"Relax.. I can be careful" Wheeljack stated as he lightly set the container down and began unbolting the top cover.

"Hrmf! The six explosions from your lab this morning suggests otherwise!" Ratchet huffed before picking up Karmen's temporary 'home' and setting it on a smaller berth, that overlooked the crate.

Wheeljack chuckled as he removed the lid, revealing to Karmen the dull gray form within. "Five of those were controlled.. and you can't hold the sixth against me! I had no idea the twins had messed with the setup."

Ratchet snorted as Karmen giggled while he started hooking cables to the body and preparing it for use. "Karmen, do me a favor, and stay out and away from his lab? I don't want to make putting you back together again to be a habit."

"I'll try.. no guarantee's though." Karmen replied, bemused.

Ratchet scowled and flicked a switch causing the dull gray form to ripple and take on a more fluid appearance. "Protoform is active and readings are.. good. Now all it needs is to initiate the transfer!"

Wheeljack nodded as he lowered a bracket over the middle of the form, where a large gaping hole appeared, locking it into place while Ratchet placed the spar support chamber Karmen resided in on top of it. "Okay Karmen, this bit is gonna be a bit.. disconcerting... We'll try and be quick." Wheeljack informed her.

Karmen mentally winced as she felt the chamber open on one side and her world of vision and sound abruptly vanished. Suddenly she felt as if she was falling before being suddenly embraced once more. To her surprise she suddenly felt her being expanding outward once more as the trickle of energy rained down onto her spark, and a sudden tiredness washed over her mind, lulling her into unconsciousness

"Spike detected in her Spark signature, levels are... within acceptable limits, if higher than expected. And she's officially in recharge status!" Ratchet exclaimed with relief. "Now her Protoform will start bonding with her spark and taking shape."

Wheeljack let out a similar sound of Relief as she started to remove the Spark Support Chamber and bracket from the shifting form beneath it. "Primus, I never thought I would see this again... Oh and Ultra Magnus said we'll have the other six Protoforms finished within a month Earth time." Wheeljack paused. "I'll have some extra support chambers whipped up in the meantime."

"Hopefully all those Shockwave took will be able to use them. I have no doubts that the sick fragger is probably torturing them in the name of 'science.'" Ratchet snarled as he monitored the readouts carefully.

"Yeah." Wheeljack nodded. "I hope Jazz and Hound can get to them in time."

Ratchet huffed. "You and me both old friend... now hand me that circuit checker. She'll be done soon."

**\ \/ /**

Jazz grimaced as he and Hound hung from the rafters in the Decepticon base. If it weren't for hound's hologram generator, they would have been spotted by now. Still his servos ached from waiting for so long. ::Fraggin' con's are WAY more active than normal.::

::Getting out is gonna be one pit of a chore.:: Hound agreed.. pausing briefly when the hallway sounded clear to move in again before carefully dropping down. ::I'm not built for this kind of sneaking.::

Jazz dropped down almost silently before beckoning Hound to follow him. ::Relax. You're doin' fine. Shocky's lab is just around the corner here.::

Hound nodded as he crept after Jazz. ::One thing I don't get.. what the frag is up with the architecture here? All nook's and crannies and open crawl spaces.::

Jazz smirked at Hound as he checked the hallway before entering it. ::A number of things.. haphazard repairs and additions.. all the relocations they've done.. and the fact its mostly the rotting husk of the Nemesis. We're lucky to catch them before they move again.::

Hound frowned as he moved to opposite side of the hallway, then seized up when he heard voices. Jazz indicated him to go up to the rafters again, and he wasted no time in following his instructions. He arched a brow as he watched Shockwave exit his lab.. with an unfamiliar black and orange mech in tow. ::Who is that?::

::Dunno. Looked a bit crazy if you ask me.:: Jazz stated before dropping back down and pulling his datapick from subspace. ::Stay up there and mask me while I hack Shockwave's door. He changes the codes regularly. Not that I blame him.::

Hound nodded and fired up a projection that hid Jazz from view. It almost got disrupted when Rumble and frenzy came through.. roughhousing with each other as they made their way to wherever they were needed. ::Almost done Jazz?::

::Huh? Oh! I'm already in. Hurry up and get in here.. shut the door behind you.:: Jazz instructed as he explored the lab.. finally coming to a stop in front of the five spark chambers on the rack. ::Good news.. Shocky went and took care of the risky part, the bad news is theres no feed or independent power supply for them... so we can't even tell how they're holding up.:: He stated as Hound approached.

::Think we can improvise a rig? Moving them without their own fuel source will be a problem. And carrying them like that while trying to sneak around? Thats gonna make out job even harder.:: Hound asked as he started digging around for something they could use.

::Might be tricky.. say.. check his desk for a stash of cubes.:: Jazz grinned as he held up a broken maintenance drone that was piled in a corner with several others. ::I have an idea.::

The presence of five, poorly maintained maintenance drones wasn't an uncommon site in the nearly derelict parts of the Decepticon base. Between the damage from infighting, and the current push to get the base ready for re-location, there were dozens of them meandering the hallways. Any odd behavior from them was easily explained as a symptom of the abuse they've been put through. So none of the cons questioned the odd reactions of the quartet as they passed. It was a rush job, patching the former humans into the barely functioning frames of the drones. But it worked for what Jazz and Hound needed. A spark support system, and a crude way to communicate with the the people within. Convincing them to go along was easy enough. They've suffered for too long under Shockwave's claws.

When they finally emerged a safe distance away from the Decepticon base, Jazz pulled a detonator from his subspace and detonated a bomb he had improvised in Shockwave's lab. Hound was verifying the other's had enough rudimentary control to leave when Jazz noted the sudden wave crest in the distance. "That should keep him busy for a while." He grinned as he signaled Skyfire to pick them up.

"W-hat now?" Bill asked as he made the camera on his temporary body look up at Jazz. He was still struggling with working the half slagged speaker.

"Now, we get you five to the Ark.. where Ratchet will work on getting you fixed up with a proper body.. its.. the least we can do to help." Jazz noted.

A younger sounding man spoke up, Christopher was his name. "Will he be able to make us human again?"

Jazz frowned sadly even as the sounds of Skyfire's approach reached his audios. "Sorry buddy, we don't even know if its possible to make you human again."

"Ratchet seems to think the answer is 'no' on account your bodies were reduced to ash." Hound replied.

"But.. thats not fair! I don't want to be a robot!" Christopher shouted, which caused his speaker to short out.

"Dem's the breaks, kid. But hey, it ain't all bad.. could be a lot worse!" Jazz stated as Skyfire landed and opened his cargo bay. "Now, lets get going! I don't want the con's realizing that explosion wasn't an accident." Jazz insisted as he ushered the odd group onto the ramp.

**\ \/ /**

Waking up was odd for Karmen. She felt sluggish as her new processors slowly booted up for the first time. Slowly text began to appear in her vision. It took her a moment to understand what it was saying. "Initial boot sequence successful." Read the prompt before other symbols started to scroll across her vision.. followed by a loud crackling of sound and sudden appearance of visual input that assaulted her processors. It took a few moments before she made sense of what she was seeing and hearing... and for the sharp pain in her processor to fade.

"Damn..." Karmen winced as her systems adjusted the audio pickup of her own voice. She then started moving uncomfortably on the berth.

"First boot is always the worst when starting up new systems." Ratchet commented as he suddenly loomed over Karmen. He then took a light and shined it into her optics, causing her to wince briefly as he checked the movement of her optics. "Responses looking nominal.. seems the bonding went without a hitch.. can you sit up?"

Karmen grimaced as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. It struck her how strange that the new body felt so.. natural to her. "Weird... I didn't expect it to feel like this.. thought it would be like I was wearing a suit or something."

"Thats because you've successfully bonded to your Protoform. For all intents and purposes, its as natural for you as your old organic body used to be." Ratchet replied as he plugged a diagnostic scanner into the back of her helm, ignoring her flinch.

Karmen considered that as she looked down at her dull gray body. The weird sensation of having something plugged into the back of her helm was only slightly strange. At least she looked like a very feminine Cybertronian. Save for Arcee and Elita, whom she only saw once, she hadn't seen many examples of non masculine bots, and was a little worried her body would have been masculine too. "Kind of a boring gray color... Guess I'll just have to get painted or something... because.. blah!"

Ratchet chuckled ever so slightly. "Do that after you pick your alt mode. Better yet, get Sunny to do it. Just tell him he's the best painter on the ship and he'll be tolerable enough."

Karmen arched a brow. "He's the.. grumpy yellow one right?" She frowned when Ratchet nodded. "But he's a.."

"He's an aft, is what he is. But its just paint, he wont hurt you. Plus he prides himself in doing a good job." Ratchet replied as she tapped a few commands into the tool. "Try standing please.. I need to check your balance circuit."

"Thats not what I mean..." She vented as she cautiously swiveled off the berth and stood, only loosing her balance briefly as her systems kicked in and compensated. "I mean he's a mech and painting me means he would have to.."

Ratchet gave her a blank look before realization set in. ".. Fraggin' human social norms..." He scowled before he pulled the diagnostic tool free. "Look if it makes you feel better, I can ask Elita if her or the other Femmes under her command will lend a hand instead."

Karmen frowned again before relenting. "Okay.. that'll work." She then looked around.. stretching and testing her new body.

"Okay, now I want you to take this Data Pad, go to..." Ratchet paused as he grimaced at what he was about to ask his latest charge to do. "Go to Wheeljack's lab. Knock... and wait for him to answer.. just follow the blue line on the wall. Don't go in unless he answers the door himself."

Karmen glanced down at the pad as she started to walk out, noting it was full of large car's and trucks. "Uh, what is this?" She asked as she turned around to see him clearing the tables.

"Alt modes that will fit your frame type. You're a bit sturdier than a Praxian. Be thankful... Now shoo! I need to get prepped for new arrivals." Ratchet ordered.

Karmen jerked slightly before she hurried off, following the blue line that she noticed had once been labeled 'engineering' in what she realized was Cybertronian. Ratchet must have uploaded a language file when she was out, she reasoned. Of course, now it had been painted over in a few places and instead read 'Wheeljack's Lab' in large English letters.

Karmen's engine nearly chocked in amusement when she reached the door. Fixed upon it was a large sign, exclaiming 'Danger! Science in Progress!' with a cartoon drawing of Wheeljack standing in front of an explosion. She grinned and knocked firmly. She then noted that, despite being made of metal herself, she could actually feel the texture of the door as she knocked.

The door whooshed open and Wheeljack stuck his face out, his vocal fins glowed a cheerful blue color as he spoke. "Oh there you are! Come on in.. I got some things for you." He exclaimed before he nearly dragged Karmen inside.

To Karmen's surprise, she saw Prowl sitting at Wheeljack's workbench. "Oh.. hello Prowl.." she smiled and waved at him briefly, then looked to Wheeljack. "What things? Is it related to this?" She held up the data pad.

"Some of it yeah.. its mostly some mods that don't come with the shiny new Protoform you got. Like a comm system." Wheeljack informed her before directing her to a seat while he started gathering several boxes of parts.

"Good evening Karmen." Prowl nodded. "While he's handling that.. I would like to do an assessment."

"What kind of assessment?" Karmen asked as she watched Wheeljack gleefully unpack some of the parts.

"Nothing extensive. I just want to know if you have given any thought to what you will be doing now? Also, your current feelings as to your new situation." Prowl stated blandly.

"Can you lean your helm to the right.. I'm gonna start with the comm system, okay?" Wheeljack interjected as Karmen considered her repsonse.

Karmen frowned and tried to ignore the odd tickling sensation as Wheeljack went to work. "Well, having a body is better than having none.. I'm not happy it happened.. but it wasn't like I was perfectly happy with my human body." She winced as her internal computer rebooted suddenly and started combing through active comm channels while Wheeljack tested the connection strength. ::That feels really weird, 'Jack.:: She responded over the comm during the test.

::You'll get used to it.:: He insisted, before he held up a part. "So, assuming you want a weapon, even just for self defense.. do you want subspace mounts? You got some empty hard points, but this is for store-able weapons for quick retrieval."

She vented and nodded to 'jack, before she looked back to Prowl. "As for.. what now? I'm not sure... I'm kinda pissed at the con's for the whole mess.. but I don't know what I can do about it now."

Prowl nodded. "Optimus wanted me to extend the offer of joining our faction. You don't have to fight, but we could give you something to do while you put your life back together."

Karmen considered this as Wheeljack leaned her forward and quickly unscrewed a plate from her shoulder blade. "Like what?" She asked before she glanced back at 'jack. "Should I be embarrassed you're unbolting things from me? I feel like I should be..."

Wheeljack chuckled as he went about installing the subspace mounts. "Some do, but its not anything I haven't seen before.. and I'm certified to do installs. I've seen it all, so no worse than getting worked on by a doctor. And you're too young for Prowl." He teased.

If Prowl was embarrassed, he didn't let it show. "Additional help as a medic or security officer, perhaps.. it would depend entirely on what you're interested in."

Karmen felt her faceplate's warm at Wheeljack's joke, but she tried to not let it distract her. Thankfully, the sensation of the new component being installed was _very_ distracting, and that kept her mind off her embarrassment. "What if I want to do that _and_ get back at the cons? I don't think I could sleep easy knowing they're doing this to people and not doing anything."

"Perfectly acceptable." Prowl nodded, making a note on his data pad.

"Then.. frag.. sign me up then." Karmen responded.

"I will let Optimus know and get to work setting things up for you. Have a good day, Karmen" Prowl smiled ever so slightly before standing and leaving Wheeljack's Lab.

"Well now that Prowl is gone.. time to get down to the fun bits!" Wheeljack exclaimed as he clicked the plate back into place. "Lets get your alt mode figured out first, and then work on your gear and weapons."

Karmen paused as she picked up that data pad again.. flipping through the hundreds of options presented to her. "Ugh, I don't even know where to begin. This isn't something I ever dreamed of being nessisary." She groused.

Wheeljack chuckled. "Well you can start by deciding what you don't like first and simply narrow things down from there... that might help."

Karmen nodded and started eliminating choices right away, notably writing off all pickup trucks or military vehicles that were listed as options. "Ratchet said something about me being built sturdier than a Praxian... what did he mean by that.. and what exactly is a Praxian?" She asked as she kept flipping through the choices.

"Praxians are a frame type that have their origins in the city of Praxis. Prowl is one of them, they're notable for their characteristic door-wings." Wheeljack explained. "They tend to have sensor nets and lots of computational hardware installed... which don't always hold up to combat stress all that well. You're built more like a femme version of Jazz, honestly."

"Ah..." Karmen responded with some distraction as she stopped at one of the images and rated it several times. "There is no way that is a real car..."

Wheeljack quickly looked over Karmen's shoulder. "Ah.. yeah thats a concept car... Looks cool though."

"Isn't the point of picking an alt mode disguise?" Karmen asked, raising a brow.

"Well disguise is part of it.. its also travel and or utility. Its more to fool the con's than the humans at this point in time. It isn't like they keep up on current trends." Wheeljack shrugged.

"Fair enough." Karmen paused at another image and marked it for looking at later. "Seems the trends are either really predatory.. or really.. blan- Ooo... I like this one."

"Ferrari Enzo?" Wheeljack asked. "Its got some nice lines to it... I think we can make it work. What colors are you thinking?"

"Well... I was thinking blue and black.. or gray originally.. but I _really_ like this white with the black trim in the picture... almost makes me think of a spacecraft or fighter jet." Karmen pondered the image.

"Hmm... let me try something." Wheeljack offered as he took the data pad from Karmen and started tweaking the colors on the picture before handing it back to her. "How's that?"

"Oh! Perfect!" Karmen grinned as she gazed at the still mostly white, but with a careful mixture of black trim and dark blue highlights. She paused. "You know.. I never dreamed I would own a car like that.. now I'm going to transform into one? It's kinda.. surreal."

"Oh?" Wheeljack blinked as he started the upload of the car's schematics to Karmen's T-Cog. "I suppose it would be for a human... its hard for me to imagine how much a shock this is for you."

"I think the worst part was when I was still in the box.. with nothing but a camera and a speaker." Karmen admitted. "And before that, being in that dark place... thinking I was dead. Coming from that... this is a major improvement."

Wheeljack nodded as the Datapad beeped. "Okay, try and engage your T-Cog now. And yeah.. I suppose I can see that."

Karmen nodded and stood. When she flicked the switch in the back of her mind she was take by surprise as the world seemed to shift and move around her before her senses adjusted to her new vehicle mode. ::Oh, this is just freaky. I'm going to have relearn how to drive now.:: She revved her engine as she tested her form. ::My perspective is in a different place... and the controls are.. different.::

"First alt mode always takes getting used to." Wheeljack stated as he watched her transform back into robot mode. "And tadaaa! You have wheels on your shoulder's now. Any questions before we start installing the rest of the stuff?"

Karmen arched a brow before she looked at the wheels she was suddenly sporting. "Just one.. where the frag did the rubber come from?"

"Uhm... That's a good question." Wheeljack sheepishly replied. "Lets get started on the other stuff while I try to come up with an answer that is easy to understand."

Karmen snorted back a chuckle as she sat back down. "Take your time Jack. I got all day."

**\ \/ /**

Jazz had to smirk at Ratchet's befuddled expression upon seeing the five 'drones' sitting on his work table. With only a few modifications, Ratchet was able to put a proper spark support system inside them while they waited for proper bodies. Ratchet hadn't considered doing this for Karmen during her time stuck in his med bay, and he was clearly uncertain letting the other former humans retain the drone bodies was a good idea. ::Yo, doc bot? What's the problem?::

::If we let them wander around, they could get hurt or in trouble.. and its harder to monitor their status.:: Ratchet informed him before he spoke to the five. "I assure you, we are going to do our best to try and help you.. unfortunately its is beyond our ability to bring your human bodies back... we don't even know where we could even begin."

"But.. why? They were able to turn us into these.. spark things.. why can't you turn us back!?" Chris whined.

"He told you why! God... I can't believe I married you." Mary groaned.. then did her best to cross her 'arms.'

"Look, kid. I know its shitty, but like.. erm.. Jazz said.. Dem's the breaks. Shit happens. You should be happy we're alive." Bill insisted. "Speaking of, there was a young woman working the counter, Karmen was her name.. do you know what happened to her?" He turned and looked up at Ratchet.

"Karmen is fine, they dropped the device carrying her, so we got to her early. She's getting some adjustments done to her new frame." Ratchet replied, glancing to Jazz. ::Speaking of, you might should check on her while I figure out how to monitor these bots here.::

::Right-o Ratch! I'll leave you to it then.:: Jazz smiled at the quietest of the five, whom they had barely gotten the name of Carly from. "Buck up kiddo, Not the end of the world. Now I got some things to take care of, but I'll swing by later to see how things are going, ya dig?"

Carly nodded the drone's camera. "Okay Mr. Jazz.. if you say so."

Jazz gave her a odd smile and salute before stepping out. It was obvious to him that she was a child. It took all his might to not lose his cool as he walked down the hallway. Even then, some of it slipped through. "Those fraggers... who could do that to a youngling?" He growled as his engine revved. He didn't even realize Optimus was behind him until his massive hand gently gripped his shoulder. Jazz quickly recomposed himself before he replied. "Oh! Hey big bot."

Optimus Prime looked down at Jazz, a sympathetic look in his optics. "There are no limits, to the depravity the Decepticons are willing to commit in the name of victory."

"I know boss bot." Jazz replied, venting heavily. "Just, sometimes... it just gets me right in the spark. Makes me wonder why we don't just eradicate the lot of them. If I had a bigger bomb.. or more time.. I could of at least offlined a few before I left."

"Believe me, I know all too well what you feel.. but if we were to allow ourselves to sink that far.. could we ever stop? Or would we become just like them in the end.. willing to do whatever is necessary to win?" Optimus asked. "The Decepticons never started out this way."

"I know.. I Know boss.. slippery slopes and all. But.. frag if I just wanna cross the line just this once! Or at least take out that glitched up cyclops!" Jazz snarled.

"Would that be the end of it though?" Optimus asked.

"I.. no. Theres other cons that would take his place.. that he keeps down by being there... and Megatron would just up the ante if we did it." Jazz replied.

"If Megatron was inspired to return to the methods he used on Cybertron, the human race would not survive. Until then, we continue to fight him as we have been, lest he unleashed the weapons he had previously forsaken." Optimus informed.

"Yeah, well.. it still bites." Jazz vented and then looked off to the far end of the hallway. "We ever find out who the kid's creator's were? They must be worried sick."

"Prowl has looked into it." Optimus affirmed. "However, what he found wasn't pleasant." He waited several moments as Jazz's expression wilted, letting the mech brace himself. "Recovered video showed the girl was inside the car of another. We believe the driver was the one you indicated having recently joined the ranks of the Decepticons. However, we do not believe that is her parent or guardian, as the person is a wanted suspect in a murder investigation in Nevada."

Jazz's spark sank as he pieced the puzzle together. "Are you saying... Frag... but why take her?"

"There are humans who's depravity rivals that of the Decepticons. We may never know the truth... unless she finds it within herself to share what had happened to her." Optimus nodded.

"I'll... get the full report from Prowler... So there ain't any other surprises down the line." Jazz replied.

"Jazz?" Optimus asked as Jazz started to turn away.

"Yeah, boss?"

"The humans have a saying.. it is always darkest before the dawn."

Jazz cracked a grin, although it felt hollow tot he usually jovial bot. "Ah.. I get it.. I'll keep that in mind."

**/ /\ \**

**To be continued! As always Read and Review please!**

~Chat session begin~

OrionPax: This turned dark quick.

WindyLady: Yeah well.. I kinda let it go where it wanted to go.

JazzMaster: Did ya really have to imply that at the end?

WindyLady: Yes.

JazzMaster: Cold femme.. real cold.

WindyLady: All shall be revealed soon.

JazzMaster: I would ask why for the ominous statement.. but now I'm scared. Elita! Hold me! D=

FemmeInCharge: You're a grown bot Jazz.

Prowl: Shouldn't you all be working?

~Multiple users logged out.~

~Chat session ended (Prowl)~


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